I recently had a consultation with armani clinic in the UK and left very disheartened.

I am only a nw 3 not more and all my loss is in the front. I want to get on propecia first although he said i didn't need to which left me confused also.

My consultation was literally 3 minutes long and he examined my head for about 6 seconds. He recommended 5000-6000 FUE grafts.

Does this sound right?

Well.......Let me start by saying that a 3 minute consultation certainly won't answer the necessary questions that a person should have prior to a very serious life changing surgery. A 6 second examination of your scalp sounds ridiculous but these guys see hair and scalps all day and everyday and can make a very quick educated decision.

The part about 5000-6000 grafts does seem a little high. Dr. Armani is known for recreating very refined, dense hairlines and by providing a high number of grafts he is definitely always going to satisfy his clients. If he gave you 2200 and you lost some native hair in the mean time, you might not be as satisfied and then he takes the risk of having an unsatisfied customer.

It sounds to me like Dr. Armani doesn't give much creedence to Propecia or rogaine so he tells you not to bother and he'll just give you more grafts to make up for things.

His ethics are somewhat questionable but I will certainly say that he does great work. Personally I believe the man is all about money, but he won't jeopardize your results in grabbing your cash. In the past their were unethical physicians that milked you financially and provided attrotious results. At least he will give you world class results while his hand is in your wallet.

NN

5000-6000 grafts seems high for a NW 3; and although you don't ""need" to get on propecia, most HT doc's highly recommend it to their patients that have MPB. I would say get on Propecia; I would also consult with coalition docs--a lot of clincs have online consultations. Do you care to share some pics? We could get a better idea if the grafts estimate is accurate; also your age would be helpful.

Any doc that gives a 3 minute consult is in my opinion, questionablee.. This is a major decesion which requires many questions and inquiries.

hairhunting,

Welcome to our community.

Our members have already given you some excellent information.

In my opinion, unless you have extremely fine hair characteristics, 5000-6000 FUE grafts is a very high estimate.

A few things to consider:

Most ethical hair restoration physicians believe and have seen that growth yield is often not as high with FUE as with FUT. This is due to the potential for damaging the graft during the FUE extraction process. Even the placing process as the graft is not surrounded with nearly as much dermis or fat which makes it more fragile.

I often wonder if some clinics recommend so many grafts knowing the above (yet not conveying it to their patients) and making the assumption that there will be many failed attempts.

Additionally, Armani seems to believe that the average hair transplant patient has 15,000 FU grafts available via FUE. Though extracting 15,000 FU grafts is certainly possible, most ethical hair restoration physicians will tell you that this will leave your donor area with a moth-eaten appearance. In fact, even those who have had less hair extracted via FUE (7000 or so) have been seen with pictures with a thin looking donor area.

Dr. Armani charges a lot of money per FU graft, I believe it's between $10-$15 now? 5000 FU grafts via FUE will cost you over $50,000.

Planning for future hair loss is extremely important which means conserving your finite donor supply for future procedures if/when necessary. Though money shouldn't be your primary concern, certainly it MUST be a consideration in the long term game plan. It is an investment after all.

Don't make the mistake of falling into the hype of marketing. Just like FUT - look for consistent and impressive before/after pictures. You might also want to compare results of 5000-6000 FUE session(s) with 5000-6000 FUT session(s).

Here's where it gets really tricky. If you look stricly at FUE pictures, you may be deceived. Given certain hair characteristics, even 2000-3000 FU grafts that grow at 90-95% growth yields on a NW 3 will have an impressive looking result. But how will you really be able to tell the difference between a 5000-6000 graft session verses a 2000-3000 graft session both on a NW3?

What I am suggesting is the possibility that out of the 5000-6000 grafts transplanted, even if only 3000 of them grow, the result may still look impressive. But in reality you paid a LOT more for a terrible growth yield and wasted a lot of available donor that could have been used for subsequent surgeries that may have been needed in the event of additional hair loss.

Certainly I am speculating a bit based on the truth I have stated above about the additional risks of graft damage via FUE.

But these are serious things to consider.

I want to make it clear that I am not anti-FUE.

I just believe that often this procedure is often overhyped and in many cases accuracy and follicular graft care is sacrificed for speed.

Though FUE megasessions for everybody sounds impressive - I simply wonder how many grafts are damaged in the process because they are extracted quickly rather than carefully.

My advice...get a second opinion from a few of our coalition physicians that perform FUE that are known for producing high quality results without overhyping its benefit.

Best wishes,

Falc

"At least he will give you world class results while his hand is in your wallet." Nervous Nelly - that has to be the best summation of Dr Armani I have heard yet! I have been quoted £55,000 (c$110,000) for 7000 FUE grafts (3,500 in two sessions three months apart) that's a lot of money! But I agree with you - I have no doubt the results would be world-class. Apparantly Armani is launching a new website in November show-casing FUE results only - I look forward to seeing that.

$110,000!?!?!?...this can NOT be correct! Seriously? If this is true, then its an outrage. H&W do about 5,000 grafts for around 16K. This is absolutely nuts.

oh, and I would feel fucking insulted if the narcissistic asshole spent three minutes with me and then expected me to shell out six figures based on his "consultation". Who the hell does this guy think he is? He does produce great results, but how does ANYONE feel comfterable trusting this self-absorbed prick with their head? Seriously. He belongs in Hollywood. He looks like he should have his own reality show. I would only feel comfterable using him for my hairline. Thats it. Period.

Ng2gb - I am being 100% serious.

Dr. Armani's fee is $15/graft. So for 7000 grafts thats $105,000 USD with Dr. Armani. OR £55,500.

For some reason the fee falls to $10 a graft if done in Dubai - not sure why.

With other Alvi Armani surgeons who can perform this procedure the fee is $7/graft. This equates to: 7000 grafts $49,000 USD with an Alvi Armani surgeon OR £24,500